Quitting Smoking. So far, so good.

[Spurious]

Originally Posted by MercurySilver

ive got two weeks off over easter
im gonna have a crack me thinks

getting sick of saying im going to do it but never do it

I have also found it helpful, & offloading, to post on my facebook page regularly. Just to vent about how I'm feeling, what I feel like, my train of thought etc.

For me, a weight has been lifted. Very few of my close relatives smoke, so family get'togethers resulted in me being the odd one out. Usually wound up outside, on my own having a fag.

Now it's just not an issue, even at work. Break times a very short now too!

The sheer number of times I had to stop what I was doing, over the years, so I could have a smoke, it was cramping my style in the end & I'm glad to be done with it.

Of late I also feel really positive, really happy. I actually gave a $5'er to an old fellow playing an accordion outside K-mart, that's something I almost never do! I feel pity for smokers too when I see them, but it's not my battle anymore.

Yesterday after 21 odd days of using patches (I've lost count a bit) I went without, & you know I barely noticed the difference. I did put a half one on after dinner though, just to stop any cravings kicking in, but breaky & lunch passed without a care.

Now I think I'm going to kick the patches too. Honestly I think I can smell the nicotine that's flowing through my veins.
The patches too are quite smelly when you first apply one.

I'm just playing it day by day. I'll be happy without a patch, but I'll have some on hand if I want one.

When all said & done I feel like a kid, like I'm the lone one in a crowd that's put his hand up to signify, "yes, I did it, I quit" !!!!!!!!

[CheftonUTD]

Good work Flivver (and everyone else).

Hmmm, maybe I should give it a go myself. I've been smoking for around 7ish years now, managed to stop for about 8 months a few years back but it didn't last .
I've thought about quitting a few times since then but never done anything about it.

What sort of cost am I looking at for getting patches?
Any other good options to try?

I think my biggest problem is that I just plain don't want to have a serious try at quitting completely yet. Has anyone set themselves the goal of "X number of smokes" per day and gradually reduced it each day?
I know aiming for something like 4/day is not quite the "win" that quitting outright is, but would still be a good accomplishment for me...

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by CheftonUTD

Good work Flivver (and everyone else).

Hmmm, maybe I should give it a go myself. I've been smoking for around 7ish years now, managed to stop for about 8 months a few years back but it didn't last .
I've thought about quitting a few times since then but never done anything about it.

What sort of cost am I looking at for getting patches?
Any other good options to try?

I think my biggest problem is that I just plain don't want to have a serious try at quitting completely yet. Has anyone set themselves the goal of "X number of smokes" per day and gradually reduced it each day?
I know aiming for something like 4/day is not quite the "win" that quitting outright is, but would still be a good accomplishment for me...

You are an intelligent person & know smoking is doing you harm, your ultimate goal should be to quit.

To be quite honest I tried to limit smoking years ago, does not really work at all.

[Spurious]

Originally Posted by CheftonUTD

Good work Flivver (and everyone else).

Hmmm, maybe I should give it a go myself. I've been smoking for around 7ish years now, managed to stop for about 8 months a few years back but it didn't last .
I've thought about quitting a few times since then but never done anything about it.

What sort of cost am I looking at for getting patches?
Any other good options to try?

I think my biggest problem is that I just plain don't want to have a serious try at quitting completely yet. Has anyone set themselves the goal of "X number of smokes" per day and gradually reduced it each day?
I know aiming for something like 4/day is not quite the "win" that quitting outright is, but would still be a good accomplishment for me...

Now would be a good time for you to kick the habit. I wish I could have quit 7 years in, but I've been smoking for about 22 years!!!
I'm lucky that I'm as healthy as I am considering.

If you get the patches on a script (from your doctor) it'll be $6+ dollars.
Without a script, you can get a months supply in a box from supermarkets, chemists etc. That'll cost you about $30 to $35. Similar cost to a pack of 40 smokes, but a box of patches will last about a month.

I'd say to you, why not give'em a go.
If you get strong ones, ie:21mg, then I'd suggest not smoking at all 'cause it'll probably make you feel sick.

Bare in mind, the doctor that gives you the script will want to see that you are keen to quit. My doc' actually said "if you are not really ready to quit, this script is useless"...as he threw the prescription across the room!!!

YOU'VE GOT TO WANT IT.
YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE CHOICE, QUIT, OR NOT QUIT.
Even if you leave your smokes at home & go out for a whole day, you'll probably feel like crap & be a moody bugger all day if you're thinking about wanting a smoke the whole time.

Read back through my posts, I started changing my habits 7 odd years ago. Not smoking in the house, the car etc.
Plus being a "roll your own" guy I believe these to be slightly less harmful...but who am I kidding!

I found over the years that my cravings dropped off somewhat, maybe the change of habits, maybe not, but I would make a conscious effort to have breaky & a coffee before my first morning cig'.
All told I would smoke 14 to 18 per day, & if I had things to do I would deliberately put off that next smoke & just keep busy.

If you're seriously wanting to give up smoking, I'd also suggest you stay clear of those who still do.

[monzie]

I started at school and managed to get up to 50/60 a day before going cold turkey in my late 30's [63 now]. As others have said it's not somebody else telling you to quite, it's YOU really wanting to.
Back then cold turkey was exactly that, no pussy patches or gum.

[CheftonUTD]

Originally Posted by FlivverFord

Even if you leave your smokes at home & go out for a whole day, you'll probably feel like crap & be a moody bugger all day if you're thinking about wanting a smoke the whole time.

Yeah if I don't have any on me and I really want one I'll get really moody and agitated real quick. If I'm only going out for less than say 4 hours I leave them at home.
I did well over the weekend, went away to go to a family gathering, took a nearly full 30g pouch, full pack of papers, and plenty of filters. Only ended up having 1 full cig and half of a second one over all of Saturday and Sunday.

Originally Posted by FlivverFord

Read back through my posts, I started changing my habits 7 odd years ago. Not smoking in the house, the car etc.
Plus being a "roll your own" guy I believe these to be slightly less harmful...but who am I kidding!

I found over the years that my cravings dropped off somewhat, maybe the change of habits, maybe not, but I would make a conscious effort to have breaky & a coffee before my first morning cig'.
All told I would smoke 14 to 18 per day, & if I had things to do I would deliberately put off that next smoke & just keep busy.

I'm a bit like that, I will never smoke in the car or indoors. I feel really bad about smoking in public too, so I almost never will in most areas (eg outside shops, walking down the street etc), pretty much only at home, friends homes, and designated areas at pubs or at work.
I'm doing that last bit backwards though, if I have things to do, I'll use it as an excuse to have a smoke now before I have to get stuff done.

Originally Posted by FlivverFord

If you're seriously wanting to give up smoking, I'd also suggest you stay clear of those who still do.

It's weird, it works almost the opposite for me. Seeing other people smoke, especially if they're going through them quickly makes me not want to be like that.


I think I'm stuck at the stage of wanting to quit, but not being willing to commit to it.
For the last 9 days I've been keeping a tally of how many I have each day, that little extra step of consciously thinking about it seems to be making a reasonable difference. My highest has been 14 (which is on the low-end of an average day before), and the lowest of 0 (which is nearly unheard of for me lol). Putting the average down to 6 - from about 18!

I not too sure I'm going to get any lower than that by following my current method. It has motivated me to get more serious though, if I can cut-down by 2/3rds in 9 days surely I can can live without them before too long .

[Spurious]

CheftonUTD, you're on the right track IMO.

You'll hopefully find, as I did, that cutting back reduces the nicotine in your body & thus reduces cravings.

Going cold turkey is an option but it's a matter of will power. It is tough trying to break addiction of any kind.

[Spurious]

Originally Posted by monzie

I started at school and managed to get up to 50/60 a day before going cold turkey in my late 30's [63 now]. As others have said it's not somebody else telling you to quite, it's YOU really wanting to.
Back then cold turkey was exactly that, no pussy patches or gum.

"Pussy patches"...really!

Nice way to belittle what in reality is a serious issue for most smokers.

You're probably too much of a "man" to discuss what you REALLY went though when you quit.

[Lunch]

Started smoking at 12, 26 years later ive been quit for 1 year and 1 week, no patches, gum, sprays, books, ads, the turkey was cold, i was ready to quit so i quit, could still go 1 here or there but i just wait 30 secs and ive forgotten... The 1 trick i found that really helped was, i kept a full pack of stuvys on me for the first 2 months, i found having the choice made it a lot easier than not..

Good luck to any1 trying, the sooner the better but when the time is right for you, it will be pretty easy, just think, the only person you're cheating is yourself, no1 else can do it for you

Ps. You need to keep yourself occupied or you've got no chance

[Franco Cozzo]

Are you finding you guys get angry pretty easily now you're not smoking?

One of our supervisors where I used to work quit smoking and he got so agro the slightest thing would make him wig out something chronic.

[monzie]

Originally Posted by FlivverFord

"Pussy patches"...really!

Nice way to belittle what in reality is a serious issue for most smokers.

You're probably too much of a "man" to discuss what you REALLY went though when you quit.

No belittling from here, having gone though it myself I know what a series problem it is and how hard it is to quit. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to succeed at it. Hats off to anybody who can do it, no matter how it is done.
Very early days for patches and gum on the market back then.
Even when you are off the smokes don't you still have to ween yourself off the patches??
I had a friend you tried the patches and gum and ended up being on all three smoking more then before, so they don't work for everybody.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Are you finding you guys get angry pretty easily now you're not smoking?

One of our supervisors where I used to work quit smoking and he got so agro the slightest thing would make him wig out something chronic.

I'm a serial quitter. And yes, I get pretty snippy when I am off the smokes.

[Spurious]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Are you finding you guys get angry pretty easily now you're not smoking?

Not more than usual.

Every day brings with it the small challenges & problems of everyday life.
Getting agro is a choice. Either let something get to you, or forget about it & move on.

My biggest irritation is when I'm working on something & things don't go to plan. It's usually the simplest tasks that go awry. But I choose to deal with it, find a solution & move on.

I personally think I'm a lot calmer & accepting of problems without the need to "fall back" on a nicotine fix. The patches obviously play a role here as I've noticed I'm short fused when I'm not wearing one.
Over the past week & a bit I've been fitting a bimini storm cover to my boat, which has presented many small problems to work through.

Havn't had a smoke since the 25'th of Feb.

[Spurious]

Originally Posted by monzie

Even when you are off the smokes don't you still have to ween yourself off the patches??

Yes.

The doc' started me on 21mg patches, my next script for the next box is 15mg, then I think the next is about 7mg... or maybe 10.

The doc' stated they like people to keep using the patches for about 3 months.
I have no problem with this.

[xrystl]

Like many on here I started smoking when I was about 11 or 12 which was in the late Fifties , my parents both smoked so pinching cigarettes wasn't too hard and the cigarette smell was mostly concealed from my parents by them being smokers , for 45 years I smoked about 40-50 cigarettes a day (I loved smoking) until may 13 2005 when I had a Stroke (not lifestyle related) and was in Hospital for a few weeks , I recovered quite well and haven't had a cigarette since the Stroke , I went cold turkey and I couldn't believe that I managed it without having any withdrawal symptoms , now ten years on I feel for those who do smoke and more so for those who are trying to quit .
When you do quit , consider yourself as a NON smoker not a reformed smoker , try Cold Turkey as then there is nothing else to give up .
I shudder when I consider the cost of a packet of cigarettes nowadays , in the Fifties and Sixties a pack of cigs was the same price as a bottle of beer or a gallon of petrol - In reality I couldn't afford to smoke at todays prices.

[Falcon_Crazy]

I took it up after quitting for 4 years. Ive just quite quit again and determined to stay off them - reality is i mostly smoke when i drink - weeknights when i dont have a beer, id have maybe 3 when i got home - so every day im pretty much going through nicotine withdrawals.

So today is day one - might crack a tinnie.